Not long after PFO published my review of the
eVo2 amplifiers (Issue
14), John Stronczer, President of Bel Canto Designs, contacted me about their
Gen II upgrade. I was quite happy with the eVo2s, so I declined. If you saw my
later review of the DK Design Group VS-1 Mk II integrated amplifier (Issue
15), you know that I purchased the review sample. Compared to the VS-1, the
eVo2 were veiled in the midrange, and this caused me to change my mind about the
upgrade.

The Gen II upgrade consists of a new circuit board
and a capacitor upgrade. Depending on your serial number, you may already have
the Gen II boards, but you will not have the new capacitors unless there is a
"Gen II" sticker next to the unit’s serial number. On their website, Bel Canto
claims that the upgrade will provide better low-end weight and definition, more
open and expressive high frequencies, and improved midband dynamics and
resolution: "We achieve these performance increases through the use of the
latest Tripath Processor and Driver devices and a completely new 4-layer circuit
board layout. All of our experience and digital amplifier expertise has gone
into this major performance upgrade."

The upgrade took about a week, plus the shipping
time. My amps were back, safe and sound, in less than two weeks. I reinstalled
them in my rack after ensuring that they were set for mono (bridged) mode.
Although the amps were cold, it was immediately evident that the midrange was
clearer and more detailed. To be fair, I had to let them warm up, so I left them
on for the night. When I sat down for some critical listening the next
afternoon, the bass had improved substantially, as had the weight and
definition. The highs sounded much more extended than they had before the
upgrade, but I detected a slight harshness that I attributed to the new
capacitors. John Stronz confirmed this, and told me that the amps would smooth
out after about 100 hours. I played the amps 24 hours a day for the next week,
and the harshness did recede considerably, but it took another 100 hours or so
for the amps to completely lose their digital grunge and achieve a wonderful
musicality.

As it happened, the original owner of one of the
eVos, Brian Kyle of Xtreme Cables, visited over the holidays, and we had an
extensive listening session. He had sold me the amp because he disliked its
digital sound, and wanted to switch to tubes. He listened for around an hour
before he realized he was hearing his old amp! I popped in Patricia Barber’s
Café Blue, one of his favorites, and he had little to complain about, possibly
because the eVo2s were being fed by my E.A.R. 864, a tube preamplifier. The
sound was smooth, rich, and gorgeous. We both particularly enjoyed "Too Rich for
My Blood" for its deep, hollow-sounding drum and shimmering cymbals. I played
Madonna’s American Life to get a sense of the eVo2s’ bass, and they rocked the
house. Brian likes his music loud, so I began increasing the volume, and the
louder it got, the better and deeper it sounded, without a trace of strain or
harshness. The amps never seemed to run out of power! Our ears gave up long
before the eVo2s did.

The next day, I experimented with different cables
and speakers. My high regard for the modified eVo2s remained. I find it
extremely helpful to take a new component out of the system after listening for
a while, to get some perspective on its performance. The exercise was very
informative this time around. First I reinstalled the DK Design VS-1 MKII, which
had a richer midrange than the unmodified eVos. Now there was no discernable
difference. I then tried the Flying Mole digital amps, which sounded much
thinner and more laid back than either of the other amplifiers. After hooking
the eVo2s back up, I suddenly thought of a great way to describe them. The Bel
Cantos are like an American V-8 automobile, with endless, smooth, glorious
power. The DK VS-1 MKII is more like a BMW or Audi. It is more balanced and more
refined. While you won’t run out of power with either, you don’t have that sense
of brute force with the DK. And finally, the little Flying Moles are like
Japanese cars—lightweight, high-revving, and a little delicate. While they might
get the jump off the line, the other two amps will ultimately pull ahead. All
three amps get the job done, but in completely different ways.

Should you get the Gen II upgrade? If you already
like your Bel Canto eVo2, you’re going to love it afterward!